I Solemnly Swear
by InkwellRaven
Summary: Another party at the Ministry of Magic and Hermione can't wait to be done with it. There's far too much on her mind lately for her to care about such things. And just when she gets a moment alone to sort things out in her head her best friend arrives and manages to jumble things up in new ways. (normally a Dramione fan but this came to me in a dream and had to write it.) One-shot.


Legalities: I do not own or own rights to Harry Potter

**I Solemnly Swear**

She stepped out of the stuffy, crowded room into the hallway and bee lined for the doors to the balcony. She shook out her cloak and swirled it out and around her shoulders, liking the weight as it settled on her and slid down the length of her powdery blue dress. She threw open the doors and breathed a contented sigh as the cool air hit her and she found the balcony to be unoccupied. Finally a moment's peace.

She enjoyed her job and she excelled at it, of course, but having to attend these parties at the Ministry were wearing on her. She leaned against the railing that framed the patio from the drop of several stories and closed her eyes, just enjoying the silence and cold. She pulled her black cloak more tightly around her as a gust of wind blew across the balcony. She didn't notice the doors behind her open and shut again until she heard a voice say her name.

"Hermione?"

She turned at the sound, recognizing it immediately. She smiled a little half smile as she nodded at him.

"Harry."

He walked over to her as she turned back to the railing, resting her forearms on the cold stone and leaning over them, her cloak fluttering down around her bare arms. He rested his back against the balustrade and looked up at the stars shining above them.

"Tired of the party already?" he asked nonchalantly.

Hermione heaved another sigh before answering.

"They all just kind of bleed together now," she answered. "Same parties with the same people hoping the catch the eye of the Minister for the same jobs. I've had too much on my mind lately for any of that to seem all that important anymore."

Harry turned to look at her as she continued to gaze out at the city.

"How are things going on that front?" he inquired with trepidation.

She didn't meet his gaze as she sighed and answered, "It's final." She lowered her head to stare at her hands. "He officially moved out last week. The parchments are signed and . . . yeah."

Harry reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to meet his gaze and found no judgment, no anger at her for what had happened between her and his best friend. The separation had been rather mutual, though she had felt herself becoming distant for quite some time. She smiled a crooked little smile and leaned her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his velvety dress cloak. She stayed there for several moments before she felt ready to speak again.

"It's alright. I'm alright," she said as she straightened and cocked her head at him. "What about you? I feel like I've been so wrapped up in the . . ." she closed her eyes and shook her head, "in _this_ that I haven't really talked to you lately. How have you been?"

Harry leaned his head back and stared up at the stars again as his expression took on a serious countenance. He took a deep breath, and looked conflicted as if he wasn't sure how to answer or how much to divulge. He paused a long moment before answering her.

"Well, it looks like marriage isn't really working out for this generation of the Weasley family, for starters."

"What?" Hermione turning fully toward him. She tried to find words for the questions flying through her mind, but couldn't seem to find her voice.

"I haven't really been sure where things were going, so I never said anything," he continued, saving Hermione from having to put words to her thoughts. "Plus you and Ron have been dealing with your own pain. I didn't want to add to it, especially not knowing how far this was going to go."

"And how far has it gone?" she asked, laying a hand on his arm and coaxing him to meet her gaze.

"As far as they can go, I suppose. We both know it's time to sign the parchments ourselves, but we've both been so busy that we haven't had time to draw all that up. They're as good as signed, though. She's even considering seeing someone else."

Hermione pushed herself off the railing and wrapped her arms around him. He returned her hug and laid his head upon hers.

"I'm so sorry," she said into his chest. "I've been so busy dealing with my own issues that I never bothered to see you were in so much pain, yourself. God, we were dealing with the same things and I never knew. I'm sorry."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away so she could meet his eyes with hers.

"It's alright, Hermione. I didn't mention it intentionally and you couldn't have known. You couldn't have done anything. We tried and it just . . . wasn't working."

"What happened between you two?" she asked, finally finding the question she wanted the answer to the most. "You always seemed to happy, so . . . right for each other."

"It wasn't any one thing," he answered, closing his eyes for a moment as if trying to visualize what he wanted to say. "She was always away reporting, I was always away, too, in some fight for my life or another, everything just kind of built up. And . . ."

He trailed off for some time before Hermione pushed.

"And?"

He turned away from her to look out at the cityscape. He gripped the railing hard as if it would give him the strength to say it out loud.

"And there was another woman."

"Harry?" she asked as she stepped up beside him, the concern in her voice mingled with the tone of slight disappointment. He couldn't help the chuckle that almost burst out hearing the tone that he had heard so many times while they were in school and he had put off his homework until the very last minute. He turned to her and his smile vanished as seriousness took over once more.

"I didn't mean for it to happen, Hermione, but . . . Don't get me wrong, I love Ginny, I have since school. You of all people know that, but-"

"But what?" she asked, her anger for her friend and former sister-in-law rising. She still wasn't quite able to process what he was telling her. "What could possibly be worth losing what you had? Who could possibly compare?"

He turned to face her and stared into her face for long seconds before he responded.

"You."

She started, searching his face for some sign that this was an inappropriate and mistimed joke, but finding nothing but fire in his eyes as they bore into hers.

"You've always been the other girl, Hermione. You've always been the one that I could confide in, the one that was always by my side. It took me awhile to realize it and when I finally did . . . I guess I got distant. That was the word she used. It didn't take her long to realize that that, among everything else, was the beginning of the end."

She stared hard at him before speaking.

"You never said . . ."

He laughed and looked away.

"Say what? 'I know you're married to my wife's brother who also happens to be my best mate but you're the only woman I can think about these days? I've probably always had you in the back of my mind since school and now I can't stop staring at you every time I see you at the Ministry?' I'm not so sure that would have gone over very well, Hermione."

She leaned out against the balustrade while her mouth opened and closed several times as she struggled to find what she wanted to say. She began to shake, and she wasn't quite sure if it was the cold, anger, or excitement.

Harry removed his cloak and stepped over to stand behind her. He laid his cloak across her shoulders and then placed his hands on the railing on either side of her hips. He leaned over her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"I love you, Hermione Granger."

Her heart began to race and she trembled even more.

"And now I'm free to," he breathed.

Chills ran down her spine as he laid his first kiss on her neck, right behind her ear. Her breathing quickened as he drew a line of kisses down to where her neck met her shoulder, sending electric jolts down her spine. She turned her head toward him with the intent to tell him to stop.

"Harry-"

But before she could get out another word his lips were pressed against hers and her knees went weak as she gave in and returned the kiss with equal passion and desire. She turned her body to face him fully and he tangled her in his embrace pinning her between his body and the stone railing. His hand slipped under her cloak and his fingers caressed the bare skin on her back that her low cut gown had exposed in the ballroom. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her during the party and now he felt his hands were going to have the same problem now that they were on her. She ran her fingers through his wild black hair, need filling her and the long absent physical touch sending her head reeling. Something about this was so right, yet there was this niggling feeling in the back of her mind.

She pulled away, gasping for breath, keeping a hand on his chest to hold him back.

"Harry we shouldn't. We're in vulnerable places right now and I don't know how things are with you and Ginny but if there's a chance-"

"There's no chance, Hermione. There can't be one if you're the only one I want. I can't let there be a chance if there's a chance with you. There's only you."

He watched her as she agonized the decision.

"Tell me you don't feel the same way and I'll go," he said finally. "No pressure, no anger. But only if you tell me you don't feel what I feel."

She tried to find the words to convey what she wanted, which was difficult because she didn't really know _what_ she wanted, but for the first time since she could remember her brain failed her.

"We're both hurting," she finally managed, weakly and knowing that her argument was half-hearted at best, "and we're not in our right minds and-"

"Hermione." She looked up at him. "You think too much."

His hands were on her hips and his lips were on hers again before she could articulate anything, but she couldn't deny that she had always loved Harry – if not always in the romantic way – since they were in school together. And now that she looked back on all of their time together she couldn't be sure when it happened, but she did love him in the way that he said he loved her and all protests flew from her head as she kissed him back fervently and fiercely. His hands were tangled in the loose curls of her hair as he pulled her closer, enveloping her as he kissed her.

He laid a trail of kisses down her neck once more and she moaned before choking out in a whisper," Harry, we can't . . ."

"We can. Please don't push me away," he breathed, pulling her hips toward his.

"No, Harry, we can't . . . we can't do this _here_."

He pulled his head back and looked into her eyes.

"Someone will see," she murmured, her desire setting fire to her eyes.

He smiled his mischievous smile at her.

"My office," he whispered.

She smiled and the constricting sensation of apparating came and went in a flash before they were tangled up in each other once more in the dark comfort of his office. He guided her backwards to his desk and laid her back onto it as he leaned over her, not quite believing he was finally getting the chance with the one he needed most. He took the time to drink in the sight of her; the periwinkle dress that reminded him of his first Yule Ball, but this one hugging all her curves just right and cut to reveal just enough to make him dizzy, her long hair that was just as curly but smoother and more tamed, and his cloak still around her shoulders. He slid it off of her and unclasped her cloak as well, pushing it off her and letting the fabric pool on his desk. He caressed the soft skin of her bare shoulders before leaning down for another kiss.

She pushed him back with a hand to his chest and began pulling off the shirt of his dress robes. He smirked and let out a gentle laugh as he bent over her once more and breathed into her ear, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."


End file.
